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Louis XV à Fontainebleau, la demeure des rois au temps des lumières
2 avril - 4 juillet 2016
Louis XV (1710-1774)
Louis XV (1710-1774)

Born in Versailles in 1710, deceased in 1774, Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and Marie Adelaide of Savoy. He was the great grandson of Louis XIV.

Upon Louis XIV's death in 1715, Louis XV succeeded to the throne at the age of five under the regency of Philippe, Duke of Orleans. He grew up an orphan, surrounded by women: Madame de Ventadour, his governess, had saved him from the measles that took his parents in 1711. Beginning in 1717, his tutor, the Marechal de Villeroi was his principal caretaker, followed by the future Cardinal de Fleury who directed the country's political affairs from 1726 to 1743. Louis XV was crowned in Reims in 1722; and married Marie Leszcynska, daughter of the King of Poland on 5 September 1725. They had ten children.

The beginning of his reign was a peaceful and prosperous period under the direction of Fleury. A sensible King with an astute knowledge of home politics, he nonetheless lacked the capacity of decision making and ruled awkwardly. As a reform-minded King, he attempted to introduce a fairer system of taxation by levying taxes for the first time on the clergy and on the nobility. But he was easily influenced and lacked conviction. Under pressure, he cancelled the new taxes. Furthermore, his tumultuous liaisons with women, in particular Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry tarnished his image. France experienced economic difficulties, having just lost its colonies in the America's. Louis XV, once called "le bien aimé" (well-loved), lost so much of his subjects' respect that his death on the 10 May 1774 was greeted with relative indifference.
98-007365
Rigaud Hyacinthe (1659-1743)
Versailles, châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
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